ZDNet: SCO’s Big Legal Gun Takes Aim

“Q: Why is this case important?

“A: It’s a case that has the possibility of defining what
direction the software industry is going. Are we going to have an
open-source free-for-all? Are we going to have proprietary only? Or
are we going to have some sort of combination?

“This case has been characterized as an attack on the
GPL.

“We never raised the GPL in this litigation. We are somewhat
surprised that IBM, which has this tremendous copyright and patent
portfolio, is advocating the use of the GPL since it could have an
impact on them. If, for example, their copyrighted materials are
finding their way into the GPL, does that suddenly strip them of
their rights? We don’t think the GPL applies. We believe it is
pre-empted by the federal copyright law…”

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